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Getting close to the customer.

Article Excerpt
Introduction

The building of closer and more profitable relationships with potential and existing customers is now a vital competitive strategy for most organisations. Customer relationships and excellence of customer service are now the remit of all managers.

National Occupational Standards for Management and Leadership

This checklist has relevance for the following standards: F: Achieving results, units 4, 9, 10, 11.

Definition

By gathering facts and knowledge about your customers (both current and potential), and turning these into an awareness of what customers want from you and how they perceive your organisation and your products and services helps you get close to your customer. This awareness must then be acted on to ensure that you continually meet customer demands and ensure long-term survival and profitability.

Action checklist

1. Examine the culture of your organisation

Closeness to your customers cannot occur successfully unless the culture of your organisation encourages such an attitude. All staff must think 'customer first'--staff who are not customer-focused in their work may jeopardise the success of the organisation by making inappropriate decisions, failing to respond to changing situations quickly enough or in the right way, or neglecting to serve customers in a way which encourages their loyalty.

Customer focus must pervade all levels of the organisation. If the culture in your organisation does not facilitate the appropriate attitudes, you will need to embark on a programme of long-term culture change to make this possible.

Remember that every section of your organisation has customers. Staff in direct support of external customers cannot provide effective service unless they are supported internally by colleagues along the chain. To encourage internal service departments to adopt an outward-looking customer focus,...

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